Indicator for doors



(No Model.)

H. B. DIAMOND. INDICATOR FOR DOORS.

No. 519,699. Patented May 15, 1894.

witnesses r Zv UNITED STATES HENRY B. DIAMOND, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

INDICATOR FOR DOORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N0. 519,699, dated May 15, 189 4.

Application filed January 18, 1894. Serial No: 497.340. (No model.) v

To on whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY B. DIAMOND, a citlzen of the United States of America, residlng at Albany, in the county of Albany and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Plate Indieating Devices; and I do hereby declare the v following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has relation to indicating devices of that class which are commonly employed upon office and apartment doors to 1ndicate whether the occupant is out or is in, the time of his return; or to impart other information.

. The invention has for its object to improve indicating devices of this character in the several particulars to be hereinafter pointed out, and more particularly in the construction and arrangement of the indicating wheels, and in the means whereby they are operated.

That my invention may be the better understood, I have illustrated, in the accompanying drawings, the preferred form thereof. I do not wish, however, to be limited to the particular construction and arrangements of parts therein shown, as it is evident that my invention may be variously modified with out departing from the essential features which characterize it.

Referring to such drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of an indicating device embodying my invention, part of the inclosing caslng being broken away. Fig. 2 is a rear view thereof. Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5. is a perspective view illustrating one set of indicating devices, and the means for operating them.

In the said drawings, 1 represents a plate which is adapted to be secured to a door, or other support, and which is preferably provided around its edge with a flange 2, so that when the plate is secured to the door there is formed a closed case within which the operative parts of the indicator are mounted, concealed and protected. The plate 1 has formed therein holes through which portions of the indicating wheels can be seem-and I prefer that these holes should be arranged as'shown in Fig. 1, -there being a hole, 3, near the upper central portion of the plate, and other holes, at and 6, near the opposite ends thereof. A card-receiver is shown as arranged centrally upon the face of the plate 1, and it consists of a slide=way 14, one end of which is open to permit the ready insertion or removal of a card. The open end of the slide-way is preferably closed by a springactuated bar 15, which lies in a slot in the plate 1, provided therefor. The bar 15 is forced outward by a spring 16, secured to the ,inner face of the plate, and bearing upon or secured to the bar 15. It will be understood that by pressing in the bar 15, a card can be readily inserted into or removed from the holder 14:. Of course this card-holder portion of the invention could be omitted, and the name might "be engraved directly upon the face of the plate 1, should this be preferred.

In the form of my invention shown in the drawings there are represented three sets of indicating'devices, each set consisting of two indicating wheels; and as the mechanical construction and arrangement of these several sets of indicating devices are alike, I will describe in detail but one of them.

I "will describe the indicating wheels arranged behind and partially seen through the opening 3 in the casing, and upon one of which wheels, in the arrangement shown in the drawings, there appears information as to whether the occupant of the office or apartment is out or is in, and upon the other ofwhich there appear the names of the days of the week, and by means of. which the day of return of the occupant may be indicated. The indicating wheels 12 and 13, which are seen through the opening 3, are of the same diameter, and are both mounted upon the same shaft or support, 5, one in front of the other. I The outer wheel is in the form of an annulus, 12, which is connected with its support by the radiating spokes or arms, 8; and upon the outer face of this annulus there appear the names of the days of the week. The other indicating wheel, 13, lies behind or beneath the annular wheel 12, its central portion being not covered thereby, so that a portion of such wheel, 13, between the annulus and the shaft 5, is exposed through the open- PATENT OFFICE.

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ing 3. Upon this wheel appear words such as In, Out, Outof town, At lunch, or other words indicating the whereabouts of the occupant of the apartment. If found deslrable portions of the wheels 12 and 13 which may be brought behind the opening 3 may be left blank, so that when such portions are exposed no information will be imparted thereby.

Various means may be provided for manipulating the wheels independently of each other, but I prefer the means shown in the drawings and which I will now describe, as thereby a certain amount of security against the wheels being turned by unauthorized or mischievous persons is afforded. The indicat ng wheels are toothed upon their edges, as indicated at 7 and 7 Fig. 5, and with them engage the pinions 9 and 9', which are mounted respectively upon the shafts or spindles 10 and 10'. These shafts, as well as the shaft 5, are supported at their rear ends by a plate 11, which is suitably secured to the plate 1. The front ends of the shafts 10 and 10' are made square or are otherwise shaped to receive a key by means of which the shafts and their pinions, and through them the indlcating wheels, can be turned. 1 7 indicates the holes in the front plate 1, through which the key may be passed in order to engage with the spindles. WVhile I prefer that the wheels 12 and 13 should be of the same diameter, yet they need not be, in which event the pinions should be of the relative size necessary to properly engage with and 0p crate the wheels. As stated, the indicating wheels which are exposed, in part, through the openings 4 and 6 are similar in construction to those which I have just described, and I will therefore not describe them, except as to the marking which I prefer to place thereon. The outer annular wheel which shows through the openingt is marked with Roman numerals from I to XII, as on the dial of a clock; while on the under wheel appear Arabic numerals, as 5, 10, 15, &c. of these wheels the time, in hours and minutes, may be indicated; and as shown in Fig. 1 the hour indicated is XII.55. The outer annular wheel which shows through the opening 6 has placed upon it numerals from 1 to 31, while on the inner wheel are the names of the months of the year; and by means of these two wheels the month and the day of the month are indicated. Thus, as shown in Fig. 1, the day of return is January 25. When the parts are placed as shown in Fig. 1, the entire amount of information conveyed is that the occupant of the apartment is out, and that he will return Monday, January 25, at 12.55 oclock.

If desired the word Return may be placed upon the plate adjacent to the openings 3, 4, and 6 therein.

By means- In order to make the apparatus more compact I arrange the sets of indicating devices so that they overlap each other in part, as indicated in Fig. 2.

The indicator which I have described is compact in arrangement and is arranged so that it conveys a large amount of inf0rmation; and further, it cannot be easily manipulated by a person other than one having a key especially adapted therefor.

That I claim as my invention is- 1. In an indicator, a plate adapted to be secured to a door and provided with a sight opening, and the two indicating wheels arranged beneath or back of the said opening, one of the wheels being of annular form with indicating marks on its face, and the other being mounted below or behind the said annular wheel and showing through its center, the said wheels being independently rotatable, substantially as set forth.

2. In an indicator, the combination of the casing formed of the front plate provided with the openings, 3, 4, and 6, and the three sets of indicating wheels arranged back of the said openings, each set consisting of two wheels of the same size, the edges of the wheels being roughened or toothed whereby they may be independently turned, and the outermost wheel being of annular form and theinnermost wheel showing through the central portion of the annular wheel, the said openings being arranged relative to each set so that a portion of each annular wheel is exposed through the same, and a portion of each inner wheel is exposed through the same, substantially as set forth.

3. In an indicator, the combination of the two indicating wheels mounted upon thesame support, and independently rotatable there-.

on, one of the wheels being of annular form, and the other wheel being behind the annular wheel and showing through its center, the wheels being also toothed upon their edges, and the pinions by means of which the said wheels are turned, substantially as set forth.

4. In an indicator, the combination of the plate 1 having an opening therein, the two indicating wheels arranged back of the plate so that portions thereof show through the said opening, the separate pinions one for each indicating wheel by means of which the wheels may be independently turned, and the independent spindles on which the said pinions are mounted, their ends being shaped to receive a key, and arranged directlyback of openings in the plate 1, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereofI atiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY B. DIAMOND. Witnesses:

JAMES W. LEWIS, JOHN VAN HAGEN. 

